The Ebeling Group Bee Hives Itself For Dewar's

The Ebeling Group Bee Hives Itself For Dewar's

The technology of 3D printing seems to be exciting a lot of industries at the moment, with potential uses ranging between the genuinely life-changing, potentially terrifying and ultimately ridiculous (yet kinda awesome). However, as this campaign for Dewar's Highlander Honey from agency Sid Lee NY and production company The Ebeling Group goes to show, the technology for creating bespoke 3D objects out of malleable substances has been around in our gardens for some time now…

'The 3-B Printing Project' is an amusing and creatively impressive campaign that utilises the waxy-architectural skills of bees to create a thrilling installation. Integrating scientific expertise with digital design, the 3-B Printing Project provides 80,000 honey bees with a starter blueprint that mimics their natural environment. The inverted beehive is moulded in such a way that it guides the bees to craft their honeycomb hive around the framework provided. UnBEEknownst to the buzzing workers, their hard work takes the form of whatever Dewar's Highlander Honey-inspired image the artistic braniacs have conjured up. Already, the bees have "printed" a complete 3D wax object in the shape of the whisky bottle, as well as the bust of the Dewar's Drinking Man, the mascot of true Drinking Men everywhere.

Central to the capturing and promotion of this insectoid experiment is The Ebeling Group, who put out a :60 web trailer, which shows artist/engineer James rendering a sketch of the structure, and the suited-up master beekeeper Robin facilitating the process in a flower-filled factory, before the bees flood the enclosure to begin their work. We caught up with Mick Ebeling, Exec Producer and Founder of The Ebeling Group, to find out how you depict a living sculpture.
 

The '3-Bee Printing' project is a pretty audacious idea. What can you tell us about it?

We love to be challenged. What other people call a crazy idea…to us, that's just something that's never been done - but is about to! We always love that feeling when we finally crack the code and figure out how to make it work. Our history of being able to bring adventurous ideas to life definitely helps when clients are thinking about doing projects like this one. For 3-B, we did what we always do when beginning a project, which is to go through a period of intense research to become fast-experts on the topic. During that time we always discover the people who we want to collaborate with – be it engineers, thinkers, artists, or in this case - beekeepers.

How did you get involved in the project? Does it help that you guys have a history of 'never-before-done' ideas?

The actual project came to us through a speaking event that Sid Lee NY President Will Travis started hosting called "SidLee Presents." I talked about the Eyewriter and the work we have doing in that innovation space. I focused on the fact that everything that surrounds us was impossible at one point, so by default, it's inevitable that anything that is 'impossible' now will be possible tomorrow. That led to conversations with the wonderfully talented Claudia Roy about this "crazy new idea they were throwing around" - and the rest is history.

Part of the project's marketing is a stylish web trailer, detailing the beekeepers' daily grind. How did you establish the tone of the piece? Was it tough to shoot?

It was unreal! The cameramen had to wear full-fledged beekeeper suits because we wanted to get them in there while the bees were still doing their thing! 80,000 bees in one room is pretty darn impressive, but after hanging out with someone like beekeeper Robin Theron – he really makes it seem like it's no big deal. We settled on a tone pretty quickly. All we needed to do was point our cameras at the two masterminds behind the project (Theron and artist James Peterson), and document their explanations. Just the descriptions of the project were somehow profound, when you're talking about bees and art. We were confident that this along with the images would speak for the project.

How does the film fit in with the actual object? Is it intended purely as a tease?

We needed a film to document the actual project, for people to understand the scope of what was actually accomplished. Even though the honeycomb sculptures themselves are exquisite, we knew that people would want to know the "how." It's less of a tease, as it is a metaphor for the Dewar's product.

The commercial has quite a unique soundtrack – jarring strings and cross-cut buzzing – that gives it an unnerving edge. Was that the intention or are we just unduly scared of bees?!

We know that bees seem to put people on edge, so the initial thought was that the sound of their buzzing would be sufficient to remind people of that, and of the overwhelming nature of all of those insects working in harmony towards a common goal. But we needed something that could complement that sound, and only strings can create the eerie effect we were looking for.
 

How involved were you with other elements of the project?

I oversaw the entire project, but thank God for Martha Smith, our Head of Production. This project had many moving parts and experimental components so there was a lot of juggling with the unknowns – and of course the time it takes for the bees to create the actual honeycomb. Bees don't really keep predictable schedules, we found out.

The title is obviously a pun on the 3D printing trend. Was it nice to get involved with a more organic interpretation? Can you think of other objects you'd like a 3B printing of?

We are very lucky to be alive in the time that 3D printing has become commercially accessible to the masses. It signifies a massive shift in how we produce and consume as a society. The fact that we can look to organic "printing" for inspiration is something that I think was a great lesson and inspiration to us as a company. We now ask ourselves how nature does something before we immediately jump into how we humans might interpret a problem and create a solution. This has been a tremendous lesson for us as creative and problem-solvers.

How many stings have been dished out so far?

Robin's answer to this is always the best. He says he has been stung so many times that he doesn't really keep track anymore.

What's up next for you guys?

We've been continuing our collaboration with the artist collective MK12. They just finished animation content for a feature film about the Large Hadron Collider called "Particle Fever," and their latest short film "Beauty In Danger." And we just completed a short film called "Mushrooms" with Ramon & Pedro, who also just wrapped a music video for ZZ Ward.

Bringing it back to your earlier question, I am really excited about the innovative projects that agencies and our clients are bringing to us. The Eyewriter Project really showed the world how we think as a company and now TEG is enjoying working on a range of projects that combine technology and creativity. I really haven't had this much fun in a long time.

What I'm super-psyched about right now is the launch of Not Impossible Labs, an idea borne out of our work with The Eyewriter Project and Tempt One. I'm most passionate about the crossover of technology and creativity, and how we can help humanity on a large scale with open-source, low-cost inventions. We think big corporations have a lockdown on innovation, but it's not true - it is absolutely possible to help people in need when great minds come together. So keep an eye out - our first project launches in October, and it's going to blow your mind.

Posted on 5th September 2013